This invention pertains to a heating cabinet for proofing dough or maintaining foods at a desired temperature, and more particularly to an improved heating assembly for the proofing or heating cabinet.
Various types of proofing cabinets are available today and most generally comprise a housing defining an interior, an air circulation system, a heating device, and a blower device. The primary purpose of these proofing cabinets is to proof dough prior to baking, to maintain cooked food at a predetermined temperature or to raise precooked food to a serving temperature. In most, the food is supported on shelves or trays in a vertical arrangement and the air heated by the heating device is delivered through the air circulation system to the food by the blower device.
A continuing problem associated with these proofing cabinets is the irregular temperature distribution within the housing interior in which the food is located. For example, the food nearest the heating device tends to experience higher temperatures than the food further away, and in some instances the attempts to rectify this irregular temperature distribution is unsatisfactory due to the inefficient heating of the air by the heating and blower devices. In other words, attempts to better regulate the temperature distribution within the housing interior may result in a lower temperature distribution therein. Naturally, this may be corrected by increasing the heat output of the heating device to compensate for any inefficiency thereof, but this results in higher costs in energy consumption.
Other attempts in correcting irregular temperature distribution within the housing interior to avoid having to increase the heat output of the heating device have generally comprised variations in the structure of the air circulation system. Although the non-uniformity of the temperature distribution may be decreased in this manner, especially when used in conjunction with an increase in heat output of the heating device, there still exists a need for a more efficient means of heating the air to be recirculated.